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Knee pain and PMR?
I was diagnosed with PMR the end of October 2024 and have been on prednisone ever since and tapering. Right now I just increased from
8 mg to 9 mg (sometimes accompanying with Tylenol arthritis tablets) with pain typically shoulders and hips but it’s been somewhat manageable. My knees have been pretty painful (only after my diagnosis) mostly in the morning and if I sit for too long (1/2 hour or longer). Getting up from a sitting position is rough. My rheumatologist feels it’s not PMR related. I will make an appointment with my orthopedic to further check it out.
Does anyone else experience pain in their knees (mostly the back) and do you think it’s part of PMR? She also would like me to go on leflunomide, an immunosuppressant which is very scary to me that I’m avoiding. I believe besides being on leflunomide, I still have to stay on prednisone until I wean off of it. I live in the north east and the flu, rsv, etc right now is rampant and, in my mind, that puts a halt on my immune system leaving me susceptible to any one of those viruses (and cancer). I also read that it has a slow half life that could take 2 years to leave my system.
I just think that if I’m functioning, even with pain, I should stay the course on prednisone for now because prednisone is not a cure, but a med to reduce inflammation? So confused.
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Surprising that the insurance approved it. It's not uncommon for off label usage these days. I'm using LDN for help with pain while I taper prednisone
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1 Reaction@tweet so confusing and thank you for that. My doc at the time didn’t discuss Covid at all.
@turleyl I can support you regarding the knee pain. I had terrible pain behind my knees. I was unknowingly dealing with PMR since October of 2025, but not officially diagnosed and treated until January of 2026. The majority of my pain was from the hips to the knees. My arms and shoulders were somewhat stiff and painful, but nothing compared to my lower body. When I tried to squat down to do yard work, the pain would tear through the back of my knees as if my tendons were being ripped away from the muscles. I quickly learned deep knee bends were off the table until prednisone controlled the inflammation. I’m at 5 mgs now, down from 20, and I can do squats once again. For reference, I’ve never had any kind of arthritis, so I’m convinced it was from the PMR. One additional note regarding the discussion on Covid and PMR. I did come down with Covid three months before my PMR symptoms hit. I had been keeping up with all the recommended booster vaccines as well. I asked my rheumatologist his thoughts about the connection, his opinion was there is no link between Covid, or booster vaccinations, and PMR. So it seems there’s as much variation in medical opinions regarding the cause of PMR as there is in the protocol for treating it.
I initially didn’t think I had PMR because my symptoms didn’t quite align with the “standard symptoms.” But I have learned not to let people disregard what you know you’re feeling. Everybody’s experience and journey is quite different. Doctors need to listen to patients and understand PMR is not a one size fits all. Wishing you well in your treatment and health.